Elba Rodríguez, daughter of Bolivian residents in Argentina, was the winner of the first season of the cooking reality show MasterChef, which airs in the neighboring country. Elba, a nursing student, defeated in the final Pablo Fekete and Natalie Neuberger to become the best amateur cook.
The victory will grant Elba Rodríguez, 23 years old, a prize of 250,000 Argentine pesos (approximately $US 30,000), a trophy, and a one-year scholarship to train at a restaurant.
In the final, Elba overcame two challenges to be the winner. In the first, she bet on a recipe of quails stuffed with quail eggs, parsley, and cherry tomatoes. In the second, already eliminated,
Elba was the favorite of the final because in previous weeks the jury had always highlighted her capacity for constant improvement and her culinary skills.
Elba, accompanied by her parents in the grand final of the show broadcast by Telefe, confessed that she wants to open an accessible restaurant for people.
The winner was born in Argentina and is the daughter of a Bolivian couple residing in the neighboring country. Elba Rodríguez is single, she is in her last year of the Nursing Degree at the National University of Lanús, and works as an administrative assistant at the Urgent Care Unit 2 in Avellaneda. She has two older brothers named Sergio and Noemí.
Despite never having been able to travel to Bolivia to meet her parents' family (Ceferino and Margarita), the potato soup her mother prepared for her, which she reproduced on the show, was a resounding success in the competition.
